Russia’s Agricultural Ministry expects the country’s grain supplies to account for the largest volume of its agricultural exports this year, Vedomosti reported.
According to the newspaper, the country’s federal project on agricultural exports will be presented to the government by October 1. President Vladimir Putin said this year in his May decree that annual agricultural exports should more than double to $45 billion by 2024.
Russia’s grain exports alone will reach $11.4 billion in 2024, the ministry said.
“These are modest plans since these supplies may actually more than double, the director of the Sovecon analytical center Andrei Sizov told the paper. Traditional consumers for Russian food exports are Egypt, Turkey, and Bangladesh, where the population has been growing, and Russia will play a major role in providing them with grain, Sizov said.
The ministry predicts that the export of fat and oil products will more than double by 2024 to $8.6 billion. Sizov noted that oil and oilseeds are the fastest growing global market and Russia plays a key role there and is also a major supplier to Turkey. The demand for Russia’s soy and rapeseed is growing in China and India, Sizov added.
Russia’s fish and seafood exports are expected to more than double to $8.5 billion by 2024, the ministry said. A major breakthrough is expected in meat and dairy products, which is predicted to grow more than quadruple reaching $2.8 billion in six years.
“The growth of meat exports will depend on Russia’s talks with other countries to open up their markets, namely China, the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa,” said Sergey Yushin, head of the Executive Committee of the National Meat Association.
